Error: “Object Reference not set to an Instance of an object” when attempting to perform various actions in Act!

Symptom: While trying to use Act!, I'm receiving the Error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object"

Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium
Version: 2005 and later

Cause:

This error message is a common and generic run-time exception message for applications which use the Microsoft .NET Framework, such as Act!. The cause of the error is dependent upon what function you are attempting to use when the error message appears.

This error has been known to occur when:

• Attempting to open the Layout Designer, save a layout, or when switching between layouts
• Upgrading your 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x database to a newer version of Act!
• Creating a new database
• Editing a Note or History
• Importing a text delimited file
• Launching Act!
• Opening a 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x report that was converted to 2005 or later
• Opening a database
• Opening Print Preview
• Clicking contact email address to create a new email message
• Sending an email In Act! using Microsoft Outlook 2002 or 2003
• Performing a Mail Merge to Email
• Scheduling an Activity
• Attempting to restore a backup
• Changing the status of an Opportunity to "Closed"
• Attempting to enable Duplicate Checking after upgrading a database with custom or spillover tables to Sage ACT! 2013
• Selecting Edit Mode in the Contact List in Sage ACT! 2013
• Backspacing in a formatted Character Field
• Closing Act! in Windows 10 (Act! v17.2 and earlier)
• Trying to Customise Columns in Dashboards Edit Mode

Solution:

Refer to the applicable scenario below to resolve the issue:


Attempting to open the Layout Designer, save a layout, or when switching between layouts
For steps for resolving this issue when attempting to open the Layout Designer, save a layout, or when switching between layouts, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to open the Layout Designer, save a layout, or when switching between layouts
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to open the Layout Designer, save a layout, or when switching between layouts

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Upgrading your 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x database to a newer version of Act!
For information on resolving this issue when converting an Act! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x database to Act! versions 2005 or later, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when trying to upgrade an Act! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x or 6.x database to Act! versions 2005 and later
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when trying to upgrade an Act! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x or 6.x database to Act! versions 2005 and later

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Creating a new database
For information on resolving this issue when attempting to create a new database, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to create a new database
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to create a new database

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Editing a Note or History
For steps for resolving this issue when attempting to edit a Note or History, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when editing a Note or History in Act!
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when editing a Note or History in Act!

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Importing a text delimited file
For information on resolving this issue when attempting to import a text delimited file, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an Instance of an object” when attempting to import a text delimited file
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an Instance of an object” when attempting to import a text delimited file

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Launching Act!
For steps for resolving this issue when attempting to launch Act!, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when launching Act!
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when launching Act!

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Opening a 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x report that was converted to 2005 or later
For information on resolving this issue when trying to open a converted report, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object Reference not set to an Instance of an object” when attempting to open an Act! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x report that was converted to Act! version 2005 or later
Answer ID Error: “Object Reference not set to an Instance of an object” when attempting to open an Act! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x report that was converted to Act! version 2005 or later

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Opening a database
For steps for resolving this issue when attempting to open an Act! database, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attepting to open an Act! database
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to open an Act! database

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Opening Print Preview
For information on resolving this when opening a Print Preview, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to open a Print Preview
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to open a Print Preview

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Clicking contact email address to create a new email message
For information on resolving this when opening a clicking a contact email address to create a new email message, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when clicking a contact email address to create a new email message
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when clicking a contact email address to create a new email message

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Sending an email In Act! using Microsoft Outlook 2002 or 2003

This error may be preceded by the error "Unable to cast COM object of type 'Word.ApplicationClass' to interface type 'Word._Application'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{00020970-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}' failed due to the following error: Library not registered. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8002801D (TYPE_E_LIBNOTREGISTERED))." This has been known to occur if Office 2007 was previously installed on the computer and Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word Assembly is still associated with Office 2007 (version 12). Please see the following Knowledgebase article for a suggested solution:

Running Detect & Repair under the Help menu in Outlook 2002-2003 can also resolve this issue.

Note: If operating system is Windows Vista® or Windows® 7, running the Act! program As Administrator may resolve the issue. To run the program As Administrator: right click the Act! icon and select Run As Administrator.

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Performing a Mail Merge to Email
For information on resolving this issue when performing a mail merge to email, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to perform a mail merge to email
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when attempting to perform a mail merge to email

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Scheduling an Activity
For information on resolving this issue when Scheduling an Activity, refer to the following knowledgbase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.” when scheduling an Activity
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.” when scheduling an Activity

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Attempting to restore a backup

You are attempting to restore a backup of an ACT! database when you receive the following error message:
"System.null reference exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object at c1.c1zip.c1zipfile.open (string file name) at act.ui.databasemaintenancedialogs.restoredialog.validatepassword ()"

For more information on this error, please see the following Knowledgebase article:

This error could also indicate that the backup file is damaged, so you will need to try and restore a different backup file.

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Changing the Status on Opportunity to "Closed"

For instructions to resolve this issue, please see the following Knowledgebase article:

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Attempting to enable Duplicate Checking after upgrading a database with custom or spillover tables to Sage ACT! 2013

For a solution to this issue, please refer to following Knowledgebase article:

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When Selecting Edit Mode in the Contact List in Sage ACT! 2013

For a solution to this issue, please refer to following Knowledgebase article:

Error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." When Going Into Edit Mode in the Contact List View
Answer ID: Error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." When Enabling Edit Mode in the Contact List View

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Backspacing in a formatted Character Field
You have a character field formatted for Social Security numbers. After entering data into this field or when you attempt to backspace in this field to clear the data, you receive the following error message: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

You can work around this issue by following the steps below:

1. Clear the error message.
2. With your cursor in this field, press the Home key, and then press and hold the Delete key until all the characters are removed. The last formatting mark will not delete.
3. You may then type the correct Social Security number in this field and it will be formatted correctly.

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Closing Act! in Windows 10
This is a known issue. For additional information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when closing Act! on a Windows 10 computer
Answer ID Error: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when closing Act! on a Windows 10 computer

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Trying to Customise Columns in Dashboards Edit Mode
This can occur if you are editing a dashboard layout and you attempt to customise the columns. For additional information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

"Object Reference not set to an instance of an object" when trying to customise columns in Dashboards edit mode
Answer ID "Object Reference not set to an instance of an object" when trying to customise columns in Dashboards edit mode

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